Vicarious Travel

~ Bitchy After 60

Travel is on my mind today. It is a day that freezing rain is in the forecast. A day that I am shut away in my office with two doors between me and the lower level. And a day that The Doc sits sans hearing aids to avoid all the noise. Since yesterday afternoon there have been three large industrial fans and a oversized dehumidifier constantly running in our lower level to dry out the damage from the leaking pipe. It is a necessary evil, and today there is no getting away from it. So getting away is on my mind and perhaps, weather permitting, we will get a daytrip in and a dinner out in the next few days.  

There was a time when longer getaways were part of our dreams, or at least part of my dreams, but getting away is not something we do very well any more. Sure I love to see new things, and we have had a few memorable trips during our lifetime, but checking off multitudes of locales during retirement does not appear to be in the cards for us. There are several reasons for this.

1.  I like my own bed. – I don’t sleep well when I travel. I miss my chiropractic mattress. My back misses my chiropractic mattress. I might last a week in a strange bed, exhausted without sleep, but it isn’t easy. I become a very grumpy travel partner.

2.  I often get sick when I travel – This goes back to the bed issue. When I don’t sleep, I get rundown. When I get rundown, I get sick. Often a bad cold complete with sinus headache, ear aches, congested chest, etc. I then become a very grumpy and bitchy travel partner. Not a good travel combination.

3. The Doc no longer enjoys walking – While walking and exploring are my favourite parts of traveling, they no longer work for my travel partner. His hip hurts. His knees hurt. He isn’t as portable as he used to be. It is pretty hard to explore when you can’t walk well anymore, so exploring is pretty much out of the question.

4. I don’t like to sit all day – When you can’t walk, the only other option is sitting. I spend most my days not sitting. Too much sitting doesn’t agree with my back or my mental health. Too much sitting makes me want to scream. I would become a grumpy, bitchy, agitated travel partner. And no one wants that to happen.

5. Bus tours are out – Part of this goes back to the sitting thing mentioned above. Plus I don’t want to see the world through a bus window, and one of us would have to have the aisle seat. But I have bigger gripes about bus tours. One, you are constantly living out of your suitcase. And two, you don’t get to sleep in. You literally have to pack up every night and be ready to leave early in the morning. That is not my idea of a vacation.

6. Road trips are no longer viable – There was a time when I had a dream of purchasing a van similar to the one owned by Margie from Back Roads and other stories. But this requires a lot of driving. The Doc is now 73 and often drives like he is 83. Plus he isn’t good at stopping for breaks. I am now 64 and often drive like I am 4 or half asleep. Long distance driving is no longer an option. At least not if we want to survive another decade. The last thing I want to become is a grumpy, bitchy, agitated and possibly dead travel partner. Plus there would be walking and hiking involved in these types of trips; and I’ve already covered that.

7. We are not fond of the heat – Oh I know most Canadians love to go south where it is sunny and hot during the winter months, where they spend days on end sitting on a beach or a deck; other days walking golf courses or visiting amusement parks. We do not fall into that category. We get hot and bored and tired. We miss the weather variations of Nova Scotia. We miss evenings by the woodstove and all our hobbies. We like the winter break from sunblock. We enjoy the first snowfall and then later on the first signs of spring. We own winter boots and snow pants. We are hearty and proud of it.

Given all this, it didn’t come as a surprise to realize that, as a blogger, I follow several travel blogs. Unconsciously I have selected more travel blogs than other kinds of blogs. Surely, it is my way of traveling vicariously without having to deal with all the issues noted above. Surely! So here’s a shout out to travel bloggers for sharing the photos and details of their wonderful excursions. They help make me ok with the fact that I will probably never see many of these places in person. Isn’t technology wonderful!

Thank you for reading. 

Photo by Nubia Navarro (nubikini) from Pexels

 

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33 thoughts on “Vicarious Travel”

  2. It’s amazing how much of that I can relate to. (Although my 74 year old husband still drives like he’s 18. ) I love that you say he’s not “portable” anymore. If my bad knee doesn’t straighten up I may be designated that as well.
    🥴

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  3. I find travel more stressful now than I did in my 30s and 40s. I’m glad that I’m wise enough to know my limits. I cannot sit for long periods of time so long flights or days of driving for hours are a no go for me.

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  4. When my hip wore out and before I had a replacement, I found that it would stiffen up every day but after a mile or so became easy again – then after 6 miles it would seize solid. The Doc needs to make sure he’s using his joints for that 2 or 3 miles a day otherwise they’ll just seize up and get worse – joints need movement. It does hurt at first but, when it eases off, it’s fine for a while. Of course, every day you’re back to square one until after that first mile.

    I’m like The Doc in that I won’t stop when I’m driving until I need fuel – and that’s even on 10 hour journeys – I just stop the once!

    I like my bed too but have developed ways of dealing with ‘foreign’ beds – firstly, I take my own blanket/throw and sleep on top of their quilt – that deals with the often too-hard mattresses. If it’s a double bed I double the quilt and sleep on it double – better still. Not sure it does their quilts any good of course 😉

    As to heat – I just love it and can never get enough of it – so long as it’s not humid heat. Hot, dry deserts are my favourite biome!

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      1. It’s definitely true – my father walked regularly – albeit less and less distance – until his mid 80s. Then it was like he couldn’t be bothered – he started staying in saying he had to ‘stay in with my mother’ despite both me and her saying he should have his daily walk and that she’d be fine for an hour or so. Within a few months of him stopping his daily walk, he ended up less mobile than her and barely able to get around the house any more and he was in constant pain.

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  5. Meh, I like the comforts of home or a good qualifying comparison. I.e. not camping or air mattresses or bugs, but a bed and a proper cup of coffee in the morning and decent food (not fast food or canned food)… I don’t know if I’m spoiled (I don’t travel much, the kids are in sports, enough said) but when I/we do I would prefer a shorter vacation someplace with above mentioned items and access to exploring things than the cheaper version and sit in a tent. (Sorry, my family are campers, they love it, it’s just not my thing.)

    Having said that I took my family on a bus tour in Switzerland which was my first time and although there was sitting, we had plenty of time to get out and explore for good amounts of time. It was wonderful and I think I may do it again one day.

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    1. Hopefully there will still be some travel in our future. I think I would like to do the train through the Rockies. It would be a great way to see that part of our country.
      We did a river cruise a few years ago and I would highly recommend that. Great beds and food on top of everything else.

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  6. Pack your bags and go. Hopefully you can escape the freezing days. 🥶 Unfortunately we took our PCR test today here in the Turks and Caicos..it’s a bit yucky and takes 24 hours to get our results back when depart. We stayed here two weeks..but a bit boring here. Happy Weekend

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  7. Love this: “I am now 64 and often drive like I am 4 or half asleep.”
    I’ve done this since I first got my license at 21.

    And I also hate being hot (which seems to delight my Devil hot flashes that refuse to leave at 62). No tropical climate for me. Or driving.

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  8. I’ve often said that I love to travel but I hate the travelling part. Airplanes and airports make me crazy for a variety of reasons. (First and foremost: Anxiety does not play well in mass-transport situations.) But once we’re wherever we’re going, I almost always have a blast. I’m all about new cultures and new things and “let’s walk down that quaint little street just to see where it goes”. There’s also the vibe that certain places have, a sensation that speaks to and inspires something in me. When I’m in southern Spain, for example, the writer aspect of me just explodes, and I could (and often do) scribble endlessly. Something in the air, not sure what it is.

    Of course, COVID slammed the brakes on our adventures. And although Partner and I don’t yet have physical limitations, we can hear them coming, so our future larks may be limited. But until then, I hope we can keep finding those destinations where the tapas is terrific, the sangria is seductive, I can spend hours with my trusty, worn-out laptop, and there’s something in that air…

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    1. I can relate to this. I used to get so anxious at airports. So much noise, so many signs, and so many people. Then in my thirties, certainly not yesterday, I had a job where I had to travel alone. I had to learn how to clear the chaos from my brain and concentrate on the signs to figure out where to go and what to do. I still don’t care for airports but I am so much better at dealing with them. But they are still exhausting.

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  9. I like to travel some, but I also like being at home. If I were a little younger and single, I think I’d travel more. My wife doesn’t like airplanes or being in a car too long. My brothers are scattered across the country like stepping stones (One of us in each time zone—California, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Jersey). In May I’m hoping to take a cross-country trip (flying) and spend a few days with each brother.

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  10. sounds like there may be some close-by day trips in your future. it’s always nice to get out and enjoy a meal somewhere different from home. we have travel plans in our future, but you never know what life has planned for you…

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